Media Spotlight – Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind

It is a universally acknowledged truth that ’get rich quick’ books are nonsense and never work. Why would a person write a book giving away all their secrets? They don’t. The real secret is that writing such a book is the way to get rich – and quickly.

To be fair T. Harv Eker isn’t concerned with the speed of acquiring wealth, but more about developing a life dedicated to it. Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind is certainly delusional but the way Eker wants you to treat it like a reference bible makes it ripe for cultish appeal.

Any book that opens with the line “When it comes to money, this may be the most important book you ever read” makes me sceptical. It goes on to say that the book is the missing link between the desire for wealth and its fulfilment.

Even the author’s name, T. Harv Eker, sounds like he should be the leader of a wacky Scientology-esque following. His Millionaire Mind Intensive seminars, which no doubt cost small fortunes – another way to get rich quick – sound like they are made up of little else but clients chanting “think rich, get rich”.

Eker has divided the book into three sections. The first consists of a series of incantations and actions to make yourself think like a millionaire. These include “Touch your head and say – I have a millionaire mind”.

Throughout the book there are gushing testimonials from happy seminar attendees. Each is hilarious in their own way but consider the opinion of Rhonda and Bob Baines.

“While listening to Harv my husband and I kept squeezing each other’s leg and smiling,” they say. “We heard so much information that had ussaying ’No wonder,’ and ’Everything makes sense now’. We were very excited.”

Needless to say, one year later Bob and Rhonda were debt-free and feeling much happier. One problem – they’re still not millionaires, they’re not even rich.

In fact none of the testimonials involve people who have become seriously rich. If these are the biggest success stories of his programme then it should be called Secrets Of The Averagely Wealthy Mind.

The second section explains the author’s so-called wealth principles which are so cringeworthy they would make David Brent blush. All principles start with the implication that everyone is either rich or poor and these two sets of people think and behave differently.

One of my favourites is – rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people. The method of dividing people based on their finances is one thing but to claim that having money makes someone less resentful has no basis whatsoever.

In explaining this principle Eker asks readers to put their hand on their heart and chant – “I admire rich people, I bless rich people, I love rich people. And I’m going to be one of those rich people too”.

In fairness to the book people who buy it clearly want to get rich. And the general theme, that thinking positively and taking risks make it more likely you will be successful, is sound enough. Maybe Eker’s division of society into a rich and poor camp is just a tool to highlight the points he wants to make.

Nevertheless, this book will not help you get rich. The wealth principles and meditations are worthy of an obscure religion and the testimonials are weak. Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind would be better placed in the humour section of a bookshop rather than business.